A Structural And Relational Study On Work-family Conflict Of Primary And Secondary School Teachers

Work family conflict was a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains were mutually incompatible in some respect. The vast majority of empirical results indicated that there was a negative relationship between work-family conflict and outcomes, and work-family conflict was linked to negative work attitudes and behaviors, in most situations, such as reduced work input, psychological withdrawal, absenteeism, and turnover. Negative work attitudes and behaviors were detrimental, and even devastating for organizations and for employee. Work-family conflict was postulated to be an important factor in molding the mental and body health of people. Teachers' work had often been described as more stressful than most other occupations. Work-family conflict had powerful and far-reaching consequences for both teachers and students. Therefore, understanding the potential causes of high school and elementary school teachers' work-family conflict was important knowledge for educational workers.During the past several decades, the vast majority of study was on work-family conflict abroad. But I hadn't found the study of teachers'. While role salience, culture context have received much less attention in the correctional literature.Even though there was much theoretical and empirical research on work or career for teachers in China, few studies was about work-family conflict. Most studies on work-family conflict was to carry out a preliminary analysis of work-to-family conflict that they were not based on strong comprehensive conceptual frameworks, and not included the antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict.Based on literature review and discuss, we initially proposed systemically and completely study the antecedents and outcomes of work family conflict of primary and secondary school teachers from the perspective of culture and role salience background. Different method were to used, such as literature analysis, interview, questionnaire survey, and different statistic technologies were to use too, such as item analysis, explorative factor analysis, confirmative factor analysis, path analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, etc. we were to develop several measurements with sound reliability and validity, to survey the characteristic and the relationship between work family conflict and its antecedents and outcomes. This study was helpful further the theories of teacher psychology and of work family conflict, and also helpful for the health of teachers-and management of schools. There were six parts, eight studies.Part one: Literature review and research designIt expatiated the theoretic and practical significant of this study. The structure, scale, antecedents and outcomes of work family conflict in western were present and discussed according to the literature. It reviewed and analyzed Chinese researches on work family conflict and on teachers. Based on literature review and discuss, we brought forward our research design. hypothesizes and research procedures.Part two: Scale development and revisionBased on the data of large sample, the item analysis, factor analysis were performed and found two scales: work influence family (WIF) and family influence work (FIW), each scale contained three factors which had helen named: mental resources, mood and behavior conflict. These factors explained 57.8% of the total variance of WIF, and 70.4% of FIW. The two scales included 37 items. Statistical results showed the scales had satisfactory reliability and validity.Life role salience scales (LRSS, Ellen et al, 1986) was revised to assess personal expectations concerning occupational, marital, parental and childhood roles. Two aspects of personal expectations were assessed by the scales which were role Values and role commitment. Statistical results showed the scales had satisfactory reliability and validity. The two scales included 27 itemsThe INDCOL scale (Singelis et al., 1995) was imported and revised in China in this research in order to get the short Chinese revised version. INDCOL-R was used to assess four distinct cultural patterns of vertical individualism (VI), horizontal individualism (HI), vertical collectivism (VC), and horizontal collectivism (HC). The four factors explained 48.56% of the total variance and the factor analysis indicated the structural validity had been proved well (GFI=0.94, AGFI=0.90, AMSEA=0.07).Part three: Characteristic analysisWIF and FIW were measured using the self-made scales. It had been shown that the score of WIF was significantly higher than the score of FIW. The number of the persons who reported higher level of WIF was much more than the number of FIW. A comparison of the male and female subsample analyses indicated female were higher than male concerning WIF mood, while men was higher than women concerning FIW. Teachers with younger children living at home reported greater FIW than those without children since the child-raising responsibility was significantly related to work-family conflict. The teachers with children older than 6-year-old experienced much greater WIF and FIW than other teachers. Teachers with parents living together experienced less FIW than teachers with no parents living together. Researches had found that: long working hours resulted higher level of WIF. Teachers in charge of a class experienced higher level of WIF. The irregular of work positively related to WIF.Role values was: childhood＞work, parent＞marriage. Significant differences were found among them. Role commitment was: childhood＞work＞parent＞marriage, significant differences among them. This mean childhood role was most important role for teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis tested four patterns of role profile: work profile, home profile, double high profile and double low profile. There were gender differences among home profile and double low profile. We also found 40-year old was a key time for men and women. Men's work values and commitment were significant higher than women' before 40 years old, but lower than women after 40. This finding lent support to Levinson (1978), Gilligan (1980) and Bardwick (1980)' theories of male and female' career development.The score of HC was significantly higher than the score of HI and VC, the lowest score was VI. Among Chinese primary and secondary school teachers there were four distinct cultural patterns: VC, VI, HC, HI. The number of HC was much more than VC, HI and VI. There are statistically significant gender and age differences of the cultural patterns. Part four: WFC and its antecedent variablesRole salience and cultural values are key contextual variables that had a strong direct influence on work-family conflict. Women who belong to HC cultural pattern experienced greater work to family conflict of behavior and family to work conflict than other cultural patterns. Men who were double low profile experienced grater WFC than other type of profiles.Part five: WFC and its outcomesUsing structural equation modeling, we found home satisfaction, work satisfaction had bi-directional relationship to life satisfaction, the relationship turned out to be one negative, the other positive. The model of male teacher was rather simple, while female's was complex. WIF had effect on the outcomes in home and work domain. FIW was related directly and indirectly, through change-work-intention to the work satisfaction. FIW did not influence work achievement, while work achievement significantly influenced work satisfaction. Between WIF and FIW there had a strong directly positive, rather than a negative, effect on each other. Perceived WIF and. FIW functioned as a mediator in the link between work-family conflict and self-reported home satisfaction and work satisfaction. SEM analysis detected the different relationships in the models of male and female'.Part six: Discussion and conclusionAccording to above studies, the whole discuss and final conclusions were made. We analyzed the initial perspective of this research. In term of this holistic, contextual perspective, we had chosen to study teachers' work and family relationship from a culture and role salience background. And based on our research, we proposed clear implications for school organizations and for teachers. We summed up some new findings and creativities aspects of this research. The important contribution of this study was showed. And the limitations and further prospects were also discussed in this part.